Considering the season is only a little more than a month old, the Dodgers went into their series opener against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday with an unusual sense of urgency.

A day that ended with the Giants scoring twice in the 10th inning to beat the Dodgers, 3-1, started with a closed-door meeting called by Manager Don Mattingly, who was said to be dissatisfied with some of his players' pregame work and readiness for games. Mattingly wouldn't divulge what was said behind the closed doors, other than that it pertained to "where we going, how we get there."

In seasons past, Mattingly generally downplayed the significance of early-season games, no matter the opponent.

That wasn't the case here.

"We have to establish that we can play with them," Mattingly said of the Giants, who came into the series in a virtual tie for first place in the National League West with the Colorado Rockies.

When the Dodgers returned from a nine-game trip Wednesday night, they trailed the Giants by 2 1/2 games.

Mattingly pointed to how the Dodgers dropped two of three games in each of their two previous series against the Giants. Of the three-game series at Dodger Stadium in early April, Mattingly said, "They beat us up pretty good."

This wasn't entirely unexpected.

Even with the Dodgers fielding a team that will earn a combined $240 million, closer Kenley Jansen said he figured the Giants would be neck-and-neck with them for the entire season.

"We all know that it's going to be a dogfight between us and them," Jansen said.